A strong run at next week’s China Open in Beijing could see Konta, who is due in Hong Kong for the October 8-16 Prudential Hong Kong Open, become the first British woman to break into the top 10 since Jo Durie reached world number five in 1984.

At the beginning of 2015, Konta was ranked 146th but she made it to three quarter-finals and reached the last 16 at the US Open as a qualifier to end the year inside the top 50.